Similarities between Buddhism and Christianity
:An old version of Wikipedia:Comparison of Buddhism and Christianity, which, years later, would more accurately be titled "Differences between Buddhism and Christianity". Y'know, fair enough, this one was effectively mistitled too, but call "Differences" that, and give this one its own page too Hippies that were not Atheists or Gnostics were into non-Christian religions, finding, in short, an alternative version of what Christian religions offered, but with the same Cool of Atheism and Gnosticism. That is to say, Christianity, as the religion of Manifest SNAFU was unCool. See also Wikipedia:Buddhism and Christianity Since the advent of Buddhism in the west, similarities have been perceived between these two traditions. Similarities noted in cultural exchange In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Wikipedia:Giovanni de Piano Carpini and Wikipedia:William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism as a religion whose scriptures, doctrine, saints, monastic life, meditation practices, and rituals were comparable to those of Christianity and of Wikipedia:Nestorian Christian communities in close proximity to traditionally Buddhist communities.Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160 When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, many Catholic missionaries (e.g. Wikipedia:Francis Xavier) sent home idyllic accounts of Buddhism. At the same time, however, Portuguese colonizers of Wikipedia:Sri Lanka confiscated Buddhist properties across the country, with the full cooperation of the Christian missionaries. This repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka continued during the rule of subsequently the Dutch and the English. Portuguese historian Wikipedia:Diego de Conto reminded the Vatican that their Christian tradition of Saint Josaphat was actually the Buddha.Daniel Hopkins Father and Son, East is West, the Buddhist sources to Christianity and their influence on medieval Christianity self published 2007 With the arrival of Wikipedia:Sanskrit studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism. The esteem for its teachings and practices grew, and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. Wikipedia:Sir Edwin Arnold and Wikipedia:Henry Olcott) converted to Buddhism, and in the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. Ananda Metteyya and Wikipedia:Nyanatiloka) entered the Buddhist monastic life. In the 20th century Christian monastics such as Wikipedia:Thomas Merton, Wikipedia:Wayne Teasdale, Wikipedia:David Steindl-Rast and the former nun Wikipedia:Karen Armstrong,Armstrong on Buddhism & Christianity and Wikipedia:Buddhist monastics such as Ajahn Buddhadasa, Wikipedia:Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama have put energy into Buddhist/Christian dialogue.W.L. King, Buddhism and Christianity: Some Bridges of Understanding, Philadelphia, 1963. They each see in the otherwise disparate teachings of Jesus and the Buddha a basic commonality of insight and purpose which offers the possibility of profound remedy to an ailing world. The Dalai Lama,The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus, ISBN 0-86171-138-6Thich Nhat Hahn, Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, 1999. ISBN 1-57322-830-3 The historian of world culture Arnold Toynbee has speculated that in centuries to come the encounter between Christianity and Buddhism may come to be seen as the momentous event of the 20th century.Arthur Versluis, American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions, 1993. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century thumb|Early depiction of Jesus on a [[Wikipedia:sarcophagus: Wikipedia:Hérault, France, 6th century. Wikipedia:Louvre Museum]] In the 19th century, when European scholars started to investigate Asian culture and religion, attention was drawn to perceived similarities between buddhism and Christianity. As far back as 1816 the historian George Faber in his book, Wikipedia:The Origin of Pagan Idolatry Ascertained from Historical Testimony, stated, Thomas Tweed notes that between 1879 and 1907 there were a "number of impassioned discussions about parallels and possible historical influence between Buddhism and Christianity in ... a variety of periodicals". In 1883, Wikipedia:Max Müller, the pioneering scholar of comparative religion and orientalist, asserted : Muller himself stated that he intended to prove the priority of the Jesus gospels over the Buddhist texts. However, Müller is often criticized for his anti-Christian motives in his works and this may reflect his agenda rather than unbiased research.http://faculty.deanza.edu/lesliewallis/stories/storyReader$158 Rudolf Seydel at the end of the 19th century noted around fifty similarities between Buddhist and Christian parables and teachings.Rudolf Seydel, The Gospel of Jesus in relation to the Buddha Legend''Rudolf Seydel (1897), ''The Buddha Legend and the Life of Jesus In 1918 E. Washburn Hopkins goes so far as to say, In the beginning of the 20th century interest waned somewhat. Wikipedia:Albert Schweitzer's conclusion appears to have been favored: that, although some indirect influence through the wider culture was }} Contemporary research Contemporary research still points to perceived similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. Zacharias P. Thundy concludes that there was a substantial amount of borrowing by Christianity from Buddhism. He prefers not to label Jesus either a Jew, Buddhist or a Buddhist-Jew, claiming that such distinctions are "fuzzy". Thundy further claims a long tradition of interchange between east and west and shows that western fables, such as those in Aesop's fables, and the story of Susans attached to the Book of Daniel, were originally Buddhist Jatakas.Zacharias P. Thundy (1992), Buddha and Christ, Nativity stories from the Indian traditions Parallels between Buddha and Jesus Gospels Burkhard Scherer stated: }} He agrees with the conclusions of Wikipedia:J Duncan M Derrettstudy The Bible and the Buddhist,J Duncan M Derrett (2001), The Bible and the Buddhist. Sardini, Bornato writing "I am convinced that there are many Buddhist narratives in the Gospels." Christian Lindtner compares the Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts with the Greek gospels and determines that the four gospels were reformulated from older Buddhist texts based on Wikipedia:gematria values, puns, and syllabic equivalences. Those who have scrutinized his work claim that his gematria values and syllabic equivalences are coincidental and that his puns exist because the Greek and Sanskrit are from the same language family. Those in support of his work claim that is findings are unique and that similar finds could not be made in regard to any other seemingly non-connected literature.Christian Lindtner (2007), Geheimnisse um Jesus Christus Daniel Hopkins claims that the Jesus gospels were highly allegorical and mysterious in order to hide the name of Jesus' father, which he claims was the Buddha's name.[http://Fatherandsoneastiswest.com Daniel Hopkins (2007), Father and Son, East is West, the Buddhist sources to Christianity and their influence on medieval myths] Birth stories Orientalist Wikipedia:Samuel Beal (1825–1889) asserts that the story of the birth of the Buddha was well known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus: Arthur Lillie argues that the birth accounts of the Buddha were copied into the infancy gospels, listing the following infancy parallels:Arthur Lillie (1893), Influence of Buddhism on Primitive Christianity # The palm-tree bends down to Mary as the Asoka tree to Yashodara;Wikipedia:The Gospel of Psuedo-Matthew # The story of Simeon, the accounts of the bright light being almost word for word the same;Where? and what? # The idol bending down to the infant Jesus; # The miracle of the sparrows restored to life;Where? # Judas Iscariot in early life attacked Jesus, just as Wikipedia:Devadatta, the Judas of Buddhism, attacked Buddha. A violent blow that Jesus received in the left side made a mark that was destined to be the exact spot that received the mortal spear-thrust at the Crucifixion; # The whole story of the disputation with the doctors seems copied servilely from the "Lalita Vistara". Infancy stories Some have compared the earlier infancy account of Jesus in the Wikipedia:Gospel of Luke (dating to the 1st century CE) to that of the Buddha in the later Wikipedia:Lalitavistara Sutra, a Wikipedia:Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.Karetzky, Patricia (2000), Early Buddhist Narrative Art p. xxi Miracle stories P. Carus, in his comparison of Buddhism and Christianity, observes that both Jesus and the Buddha are said to have walked on water only because of their faith in their teacher. Furthermore, both a disciple of Buddha and a disciple of Jesus are reported to have walked on water. R. Stehly gives six examples of parallel themes between the story of Peter's walking on the water and the Buddhist Jataka 190. R. von Garbe also thinks that the number of parallels in the stories can only have resulted from Christian borrowing of the Indian legend.R. von Garbe (1914), Indien un dus Christentum. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck. pp. 56-59 In addition to the Jataka story, R.C. Amore recounts a miracle from the first chapter of Wikipedia:Mahavagga, the Book of the Discipline, IV, where Buddha himself displayed his power over nature. Amore thinks that Jesus himself was influenced by Buddhist teachings and that Buddhist material continued to influence Christianity as it developed.Jesus' walking on the sea: an investigation of the origin of the narrative Buddhist views of Jesus Some Wikipedia:Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, regard Jesus as a Wikipedia:bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings: }} Both Jesus and Buddha advocated radical alterations in the common religious practices of the day. There are occasional similarities in language, such as the use of the common metaphor of a line of blind men to refer to religious authorities with whom they disagreed (DN 13.15, Matthew 15:14). Some Buddhists believe there is a particularly close affinity between Buddhism (or Eastern spiritual thought generally) and the doctrine of Gnostic texts such as the Wikipedia:Gospel of Thomas."Gospel of Thomas:The Buddhist Jesus?" Retrieved April 15, 2007. The 14th century Zen master Wikipedia:Gasan Joseki indicated that the Gospels were written by an enlightened being, when one of students read him stories from the gospel : Mary Mother Mary The story of the birth of the Buddha was known in the Hellenistic world: a fragment of Wikipedia:Archelaos of Carrha(278 CE) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth.Archelaus (Bishop of Cascar in Mesopotamia, d. about 278), Acta Disputationis cum Manete Haeresiarcha. Originally written in Syriac, and so far belonging to the Oriental Christian Sources (Comp. Jerome, de Vir. Ill. 72), but extant only in a Latin translation, which seems to have been made from the Greek, edited by Zacagni (Rome, 1698), and Routh (in Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. V. 3-206)Eng. transl. in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library (vol. XX. 272-419) ed. vol. VI. p. 173 sq. Wikipedia:Queen Maya came to bear the Buddha after receiving a prophetic dream in which she saw the descent of the Bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) from the heaven into her womb, in the shape of a small white elephant. This story has some parallels with the story of Jesus being conceived in connection with the visitation of the Wikipedia:Holy Spirit to the Virgin Mary.Andre Grabar mentions Buddhist iconography of the birth of the Buddha as a possible source for the Christian depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ. Andre Grabar, p129 The classical scene of the Virgin Mary being supported by two attendants at her side, may have been influenced by earlier iconography, such as the rather similar Buddhist theme of Queen Maya giving birth.Andre Grabar, p129 The iconography of Mary breastfeeding the child Jesus, unknown in the West until the 5-6th century (probable date of a frieze excavated in Wikipedia:Saqqara), has also been connected to the much more ancient iconography of the goddess Wikipedia:Hariti, also breastfeeding her child, and wearing Hellenistic clothes in the Wikipedia:Greco-Buddhist art of Wikipedia:Gandhara.Foucher, "The beginnings of Buddhist art", p.271 Guanyin and the Virgin Mary thumb|200px|The goddess [[Wikipedia:Hariti holding a baby on her lap has been considered as an iconographical source for the Virgin Mary. Wikipedia:Gandhara, 2-3rd century, also see the ancient Egyptian iconography depicting Wikipedia:Isis and her baby son Wikipedia:Horus ]] The Sinologist Wikipedia:Martin Palmer has commented on the similarity between the Wikipedia:Blessed Virgin Mary and Wikipedia:Guan Yin. Guanyin is the Chinese name for a male bodhisattva in India and Tibet, Wikipedia:Avalokitesvara, who underwent a gradual feminization process in China late in the first millennium CE, after a period of Wikipedia:proselytization by Turkic Wikipedia:Nestorian Christians.Palmer, Martin. The Jesus Sutras: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity. New York: Ballantine, 2001. pp. 241-243 The Wikipedia:Tzu-Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese Buddhist organization, also noticing the similarity, commissioned a portrait of Guan Yin and a baby that resembles the typical Wikipedia:Madonna and Child painting. During the Wikipedia:Edo Period in Japan, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death, some underground Christian groups venerated the Virgin Mary disguised as a statue of Kannon (the Japanese name for Guanyin); such statues are known as Maria Kannon. Many had a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location. Similarities in literature, stories and myths Dhammapada and King Solomon The Wikipedia:Dhammapada, the proverbs of the Buddha, bear widespread similarities to the Wikipedia:Book of Proverbs and Wikipedia:Ecclesiastes of King Wikipedia:Solomon.R. E. Sherman (2011), Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link?. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace. pp 45-152. The similarities include peace,1 Chronicles 22:6-9 tolerance,1 Kings 11:4-8 viewing this world as an illusionEcclesiastes 1:2 and a place of suffering,Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 & 5:15-17 meditation,Proverbs 6:20-23 & 7:1-3 and overcoming ignorance with wisdomProverbs 4:5-7 and enlightenment.Proverbs 4:18 Barlaam and Josaphat thumb|left|200px|From a 12th century Greek manuscript: Saint Josaphat preaches the Gospel The Greek legend of Barlaam and Ioasaph, sometimes mistakenly attributed to the 7th century Wikipedia:John of Damascus but first recorded by the Georgian monk Wikipedia:Euthymius of Athos in the 11th century, was ultimately derived, via Arabic and Georgian versions, from the life story of the Buddha. The king-turned-monk Ioasaph (Georgian Iodasaph, Arabic Yūdhasaf or Būdhasaf) also gets his name from the Sanskrit Wikipedia:Bodhisattva, the term traditionally used to refer to Gautama before he becomes a buddha. Barlaam and Ioasaph were placed in the Orthodox calendar of Wikipedia:saints on 26 August, and in the Roman Wikipedia:martyrology they were canonized (as "Barlaam and Josaphat") and assigned 27 November. The story was translated into Hebrew in the Middle Ages as "Ben-Hamelekh Vehanazir" ("The Prince and the Wikipedia:Nazirite"). Thus the Buddhist story was turned into a Christian and Jewish legend.Joseph Jacobs (ed. and inducer), Barlaam and Josaphat. English Lives of Buddha (David Nutt, London, 1896) xvi-xvii Morality The teachings of the Buddha display certain similarities to Christian moral precepts of more than five centuries later: the sanctity of life, Wikipedia:compassion for others, rejection of violence, confession and emphasis on charity and the practice of Wikipedia:virtue. Wikipedia:Burnett Hillman Streeter argued that the moral teaching of the Buddha has four remarkable resemblances to the Sermon on the Mount. Religious symbolism thumb|170px|Christian [[Wikipedia:Chi Rho pendant of Maria, wife of Honorius (398-407 CE). Wikipedia:Musée du Louvre]] Wikipedia:T.W. Rhys Davids, British scholar of the Pāli language, was the earliest and most energetic promoter of the Theravada tradition in the West. In 1878 he wrote of its northern counterpart: thumb|left|250px|An early Christian wheel-like [[Wikipedia:ichthys symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ, Wikipedia:Ephesus]] It is believed that use of rosaries spread from India to Western Europe during the Wikipedia:Crusades via its Muslim version, the tasbih. Some, however, suggest an alternative route. A form of prayer rope appears to have been used in Eastern Christendom much earlier; so, it is argued, the Muslim tasbih may originate from a Christian source. Both, it is pointed out, have 33 beads, corresponding to the years of Christ's life. In Buddhist tradition, rosaries commonly have 108 beads, corresponding to the number of the virtues of the Buddha, or the number of sins one has to overcome in order to attain enlightenment. The ancient Wikipedia:Añjali Mudrā gesture, with the palms touching one another, is a common form of greeting and prayer gesture in all Indian spiritual traditions, including the Buddhist. It is absent in Wikipedia:Jewish traditions, whose scriptures specify raised or clasped hands. Prayer with the palms touching one another is, however, depicted in Christian art from the Middle Ages onwards. However, the more historically proximate origin of this Christian prayer posture is assumed to have originated from medieval commendation ceremonies. These ritualized ceremonies were not in fact religious, but rather served to establish a social contract between a lord and his vassal. In 1921 the Wikipedia:Buddhist Scholar and Wikipedia:diplomat Sir Charles Eliot, writing of apparent similarities between Christian practices and their counterparts in Buddhist tradition, supposed a dependent origin for both traditions: During one of the modern-day interfaith dialogues, the great Theravada thinker Wikipedia:Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, recalling the Buddhist core principle of Wikipedia:anatta, or Non-self, used to note that he personnally liked the sign of the Cross, as he reinterpreted the Cross as the letter "I" (i.e. the first-person pronoun in English) being crossed out, meaning "no ego, or no self". Similarities in administrative structures The Buddhist Jack McQuire believes that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place. The administrative structures formed by Buddhism share the following similarities with those formed by Christianity: * monasticism and communal living for spiritual adherents which adhered to principles of practicing poverty and chastity.Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol 3. Charles Eliot 20 of 22: Egypt was a most religious country, but it does not appear that asceticism, celibacy or meditation formed part of its older religious life, and their appearance in Hellenistic times may be due to a wave of Asiatic influence starting originally from India. http://www.arcamax.com/religion/b-1387-20 * missionaries and missions which were first organized and established by Buddhists, all predate the early Christian organizations in the same areas where Christianity was first established (Antioch, etc.). Criticism of perceived similarities Buddhist influence on Greek culture Although Greek rulers as far as the Mediterranean are mentioned as having received Buddhist missionaries, only in Bactria and the Kabul valley did Buddhism really take root. Also, the statement in the late Buddhist chronicle of the Wikipedia:Mahavamsa, that among the Buddhists who came to the dedication of a great Stupa in Wikipedia:Sri Lanka in the 2nd century BCE, "were over thirty thousand monks from the vicinity of Alassada, the capital of the Yona country" is sometimes taken to suggest that long before the time of Christ, Wikipedia:Alexandria in Wikipedia:Egypt was the centre of flourishing Buddhist communities. Although it is true that Alassada is the Pali for Wikipedia:Alexandria; but it is usually thought that the city meant here is not the ancient capital of Egypt, but as the text indicates, the chief city of the Wikipedia:Yona country, the Yavana country of the rock-inscriptions: Wikipedia:Bactria and vicinity. And so, the city referred to is most likely Wikipedia:Alexandria of the Caucasus. Varying theories on Buddhist origins Also, there are various views on the origins of the oldest Buddhist teachings of the Wikipedia:Pali Canon. The origin of the later teachings of Wikipedia:Mahayana Buddhism are especially obscure: It is believed that most of the Mahayana sutras only appear in writing after 100 BCE.Theravada - Mahayana Buddhism By Ven. Dr. W. Rahula http://www.buddhistinformation.com/theravada.htm and most did not reach their final form until much later, just as the Gospels would not reach a standard form until the Nicene version. The earlier teachings of the Pali Canon and the Agamas however, are clearly up to four centuries older than Christianity. Although Buddhism is older than Christianity, and some Buddhist influence, such as Wikipedia:Barlaam and Josaphat, is clearly evident. See also * Wikipedia:Buddhism and Christianity References Sources * Allegro, John, The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revised, Grammercy Publishing Co., New York, 1981 (first published Penguin Books, 1956). * Amore, Roy C., Two Masters, One Message, The Lives and the Teachings of Gautama and Jesus, Parthenon Press, Nashville, 1978. * Blavatsky, H. P. Wikipedia:Isis Unveiled (1877) * de Silva, Lynn, A., The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity, Macmillan Press, London, 1979. -Reincarnation in Buddhist and Christian Thought, 1968. * Derrett, J. Duncan M., The Bible and the Buddhists, Sardini 2000. ISBN 88-7506-174-2 http://www.sardini.it/Sardini_Editrice/BibleAndBuddhists.html http://www.jesusisbuddha.com/review.html * Foltz, Richard, ''Religions of the Silk Road, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, ISBN 978-0-230-62125-1 * Richard Garbe: Indien und das Christentum http://www.jesusisbuddha.com/vorwort.html * Elmar R. Gruber & Holger Kersten. The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity. * Haring, Hermann & Metz, Johann-Baptist, eds., Reincarnation or Resurrection?, SCM Press, Maryknoll, 1993. * Head, Joseph, & Cranston, S.L., eds., Reincarnation An East-West Anthology (Including quotations from the world's religions & from over 400 western thinkers), Julian Press, New York, 1961. * Howe, Quincy, Jr., Reincarnation for the Christian, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1974. * Johnston, William, S.J., Christian Zen, Harper & Row, 1971. ISBN 0-8232-1801-5 * Leaney, A.R.C., ed., A Guide to the Scrolls, Nottinham Studies on the Qumran Discoveries, SCM Book Club, Naperville, Ill., 1958. * Lefebure, Leo D., The Buddha and the Christ, Explorations in Buddhist and Christian Dialogue (Faith Meets Faith Series), Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, 1993. * Lillie, Arthur, Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus, the Essene, Unity Book Service, New Delhi, 1984 (first published in 1887). *India in Primitive Christianity, Kegan House Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1909. * Lopez, Donald S. & Rockefeller, Steven C., eds., The Christ and the Bodhisattva, State University of New York, 1987. Phan, *Peter, ed., Christianity and the Wider Ecumenism, Paragon House, New York, 1990. * Pye, Michael & Morgan, Robert, eds., The Cardinal Meaning, Essays in Comparative Hermeneutics: Buddhism and Christianity, *Mouton & Co., Netherlands, 1973. * Radhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religions in Western Thought, Oxford University Press, 1939. * Siegmund, Georg, Buddhism and Christianity, A Preface to Dialogue, Sister Mary Frances McCarthy, trans., University of Alabama Press, 1968. * Smart, Ninian, Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies, Macmillan, London, 1993. * Streeter, Burnett H., The Buddha and The Christ, an Exploration of the Meaning of the Universe and of the Purpose of Human Life, Macmillan and Co., London, 1932. * Tweed, Thomas. The American Encounter With Buddhism, 1844-1912 : Victorian Culture & the Limits of Dissent. University of North Carolina Press. * Tambyah, Isaac T., A Comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, Indian Book Gallery, Delhi, 1983 (first edition 1925). * Walker, Susan, Speaking of Silence: Christians and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way, Paulist Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8091-2880-2. * Wilson, Joseph A.P., 'The Life of the Saint and the Animal: Asian Religious Influence in the Medieval Christian West', Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 3(2):169-194, 2009. * Yu, Chai-shin, Early Buddhism and Christianity, A comparative Study of the Founders' Authority, the Community, and the Discipline, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981. * * External links , present-day Pakistan. Note the definite Greek style of the sculpture.]] * Dalai Lama questions on Buddhism & Christianity * Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast on contemporary impact of Christian/Buddhist dialogue * Ecumenical Buddhism * Was Jesus a Buddhist? * Similarities and differences 1 * Similarities and differences 2 * Contemplatives in Dialogue, "an organisation of Buddhist, Benedictine, Franciscan and secular humanist and contemplatives" * The Zen Way Back Category:Buddhism and Christianity Christianity Buddhism Category:Relationships between religions Category:Comparative Buddhism Category:Comparative religion Category:Religion Category:Religious faiths, traditions, and movements Category:Intersectional religious topics Religion Category:Religion and society Category:Critical theory Category:Discrimination